democracy has begun in syria and it is time to get out of the way. >> israel launches air strikes on the gaza strip in response to coordinated assaults on the israeli border with egypt. as world markets plummet again, we go to china where the fear is an economic boom may turn into a bust. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. if syria's president had any lingering doubts about the attitude of the international community towards his regime he certainly knows where he stands now. today for the first time president obama exclusively calls for him to step aside and

britain, france and germany quickly followed suit. the question now will it make any difference. jame robbins reports. >> it will not go to waste. this video taken today shows one of the latest funerals of civilians killed against the regime over the past five months. finally the obama administration is now calling directly for him to go. >> the transition to democracy in syria has begun and it is time for assad to get out of the way. it is up to the syrian people to choose their own leaders, in a democratic system based on the rule of law and dedicated to protecting the rights of all citizens regardless of ethnicity, religion, sex or gender. >> for months washington resisted spelling it out,

fearing president assad could cling on endlessly. now that most of the arab world condemns his regime the west does judge the tide is turning. the syrian up rising proved its staying power despite all of the force used against civilians. today europe coordinated their new tough talk with washington. the leaders of britain, france and germany saying we call on him to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the syrian people and to step aside in the best interest of syria. it must stop now. the united nations now believe over 2,000 people have been killed in the up rising and judges the regime may amount to crimes against humanity.

president obama is now introducing stronger sanctions against syria, even at the risk of hurting ordinary syrians. american investment is banned and no more imports of oil and gas. something europe will now consider. washington sent expecting immediate results. >> in syria they still have the loyalty of their security services. it may well be he is mortally wounded but it will take some time from a political standpoint before he is over. >> so as syrians cry out to the world for help president assad is under substantial new pressure, but so far the regime judged its survival is paramount, whatever the cost. james robbins, bbc news. >> a few moments ago the syrian ambassador to the united states spoke at the u.s. headquarters.

he took serious issue with the allegations which have been leveled against the assad regime and the organization making them. >> these forces have nothing buha tread. all of the wars and invasions that were taken on behalf of this security council were based on lies. >> the syrian ambassador to the united nations speaking a short time ago. in libya rebel fighters say they took control of an oil refinery in a important town that controls access to tripoli. colnel gadhafi's regime say its is still in government's hands.

our correspondent just sent us this report. >> from libya's western mountains we push north towards the cost, not sure what we will find. last week this road was controlled by colnel gadhafi's forces, now we pass bands of rebel fighters. one of gadhafi's tanks lies abandoned. on street corners groups of rebel fighters are in control and yew foreic. >> do you think it is near the end now? >> yes. we know. strong people. very close to tripoli. >> right on the edge of the western edge here. behind me is that bridge you see is the highway between tripoli and the border.

these guys here are in control of the streets, the levels are in control. that means that tripoli is now cut off from the outside world. you can also see smoke behind them from a rocket that landed here about 10 minutes ago. we were told half an hour ago the place was safe. clearly it is still under attack from gadhafi's forces. >> the battle is to control this vital highway. this was colnel gadhafi's last link to the outside world. six weeks ago i drove down here on my way to tripoli. it was crammed with cars and food and supplies. look at it now. a group of rebels take me to see their latest prize, the city's oil refinery. they drove gadhafi's last troops out of here yesterday. in tripoli there is already a desperate shortage of fuel. now it will be worse.

in the city center this afternoon intense street fighting continued. colnel gadhafi knows he cannot afford to lose this vital town. the rebels know if they hold on here they will have gadhafi cut off and surrounded. >> israel says an air strike on the gaza strip killed the militants there. several died in a coordinated attack of vehicles, including two buses. >> this was the most deadly attack inside israel since 2000 eight. the casualties were affected by gunmen who seemed to come out of the desert which has been increasingly lawless since the

revolution. a bus was attacked first by well organized gunmen. other attacks included a private car and military patrol. it went on much of the afternoon. the defense minister said egypt's hold was weakening. and after the ambulances passed the generals with him were told more shooting was happening and abruptly ended the news conference. as israel troops conducted a man hunt along the border the government here said it would retaliate against gunmen who traveled through from gaza. an air strike in gaza killed a small boy and five members of an armed group, the popular resistance committees. the group denied it carried out the attack but promised what it called double revenge. israel's prime minister went on tv.

>> the israelis had a sharp reminder that their enemies can take advantage of the confusion in the arab world. political tensions were already rising ahead of a palestinian plan to ask the u.n. for membership and recognition of their independence and borders. before any of that there is a strong chance that more violence in and around gaza. >> police in pakistan's biggest city claimed gang rivalries for members shot in the head and appeared to be tortured before their bodies were dumped in

sacks in various parts of the city. the indian anti-corruption campaign says he won't leave prison until friday despite reaching a deal with authorities. he will start a 15-day hunger strike. his arrest sparked protests around the country. well, it is wild market time once again. after last week's roller coaster, most investors hoped the lurching ride was over. not so. today european exchanges plunged and the dow lost more than 400 points. why is the turmoil back? we turn now to david from the "wall street journal." it has been a calm week until today, david. what happened? >> i am going to blame it at first on the europeans. basically what happened is overnight there was disclosures that u.s. regulators were looking at european banks who

have significant presence here in the u.s., discussing about whether or not they have tremendous exposure to possibly the sophearn debt issues over there and if it may trigger issues here. that got the market nervous. before we opened it looked like it would go lower. then we got economic data that put things into a tailspin in the u.s. one of our leading manufacturing indexes out of philadelphia, the federal reserve bank there came in startling lower. we have never seen that level unless we were in a recession. manufacturing data and fears about the financial system obviously triggered a huge sell-off. it was underwater all day and finished low. >> the fed said it would keep interest rates low for the next couple of years. does the government have many more tools in its bag to help

this economy? >> the fed might suggest something differently. almost everyone who watches the federal reserve is convinced that they really do not have much left. they could go in and buy more assets. they could pump money into the economy. the real problem is that here in the u.s. for all of the cash increases, it is not being put to work in the economy by companies or consumers. it is what we call a liquidity crunch. and without action from congress, from the political side of the spectrum, from lawmakers with stimulus and jobs programs, there is a growing sense in the marketplace that we are heading for a recession and there is really nothing that washington has prepared or willing to do if we go there. hence we are recall brating based on this sort of gloomy

outlook. >> gloomy indeed. thanks very much from joining us from new york. >> it is a sign of the time. demonstrators clashed with police after marching in madrid on wednesday evening, up to a million pilgrims from across the world gathered in the city for events that will culminate on sunday celebrated by the pope. >> as pope benedict's plane touched down in madrid a crowd was waiting to welcome him. spain's royal family was there too. this is a state visit. but above all it is about

connecting with young catholics, insuring the church is the future. >> i have come here to meet thousands of young people from all over the world, catholics committed to christ, searching for the truth to give real mean to their existence. >> the people lining the pope's routes have come from more than 190 countries to be here. the fact that the pope chose madrid reflects his concern of the declining influence of the church here and spain's rapid secularazation. this crowd says spain is not secular enough. their protest use of public funds for a papal visit fueled their anger and this lavish four-day event is being staged in the midst much the deepest economic crisis in decades. today it is back to party mood.

the only crowds on the streets now are the pilgrims. this welcome ceremony is the first in a busy schedule of events. the climax is an open air mass sunday where more than a million people are expected. >> returning now to our top story, the call by the west for the president of syria to go. you heard the syrian ambassador level allegations against the world body. now i am joined by the u.n. high commissioner for human rights and she joins me from new york. you heard what the syrian ambassador said. what did you make of it? >> i just reported to the security council because the situation is very grave and needs further action by the

security council. there are positions by individual governments such as the united states. my job as high commissioner was to report, which i did, that there are ongoing violations. it is widespread and it amounts to crimes against humanity. >> can you be a little more specific? the syrian ambassador denies those charges. what did you find that amounts to that charge? >> we found, and the syrian government in their government to 1,900 people were killed, but they claim that 350 of them were the security forces. so we heard from actual witnesses, forensic doctors working for us examined the bodies. the bullet wounds are to the head and chest.

they are targeted killings. across many cities, so there is a pattern. this is what we presented as evidence to the security council. we have a denial on the part of the government, but here almost 180 witnesses from both inside syria and in four other countries have told us this. and they also include defectors from the security forces who told us for instance about orders to kill. >> do you think now that the international community has come out and said that it is time for assad to go that that will make a difference to the situation in syria? >> what i found more important is that every member of the

security council today condemned the violence and called for an immediate stop. i think that is an important message to convey to syrians. what i learned from the council is that they would prefer a diplomatic solution. the pressure may come differently from different governments such as president obama's call for resignation. what kinds of actions are called for by the government do not fall under my mandate. mine is that there has to be accountability and justice and perpetrators must be brought to justice. and that the call for reform and yet a continuation of the violence. in fact i told the security council there has been an escalation of the violence during the last two weeks. 200 people were killed. >> thanks very much for joining us.

there is a lot of talk about the chinese economic juggernaut, especially as america's biggest foreign creditor. joe biden saw -- but is china really an unstoppable economic force? >> like the giant ships that fill its ports, china seems to be steaming ever onwards, churning out its exports, selling to the world has swelled china's economy into a giant but also let it vulnerable to what happens overseas. in europe and america in crisis, is china really unstoppable? these were just wheat fields a decade ago. today 10% of all of the world's solar panels are made here. it export to the west where governments have been

subsidizing a switch to renewable energy. now sales are slipping. he say its is well placed to survive any downturn. >> there was a financial crisis in 2008. we are becoming more efficient and improving our service for our customers in europe and america. >> this is how china responded to that last crisis, massive building programs, new railways, sending billions to keep the economy growing 10% per year. chinese economists feel comfortable enough to lecture those in the west. >> you have to wake up to the reality that today's economy is different than what it was 20 years ago. today you are facing new commerce in china and india and brazil, so your economic system has to be reformed. you cannot simply rely upon

your past experience and success. >> all across china vast new cities are being built with stimulus money. this is complete with an opera house, 60-story hotel. 1.5 million people. only 300,000 have moved in. money spent on every new building like this adds just a little more to china's g.d.p., the economy is booming, but these are also debts that must one day be paid off. if they can't be filled and made profitable, some fear china is storing up problems for the future. the worst chinese provinces are like greece. instead of relying on exports and building booms, china needs to develop its domestic consumer economy. if it can't the chinese miracle may turn out to be a mirage.

>> a different view there of the chinese economic boom. now to a former communist super power, russia. this marks the 20 anniversary of the attempted cue to end the soviet union. >> when i moved to moscow 20 years ago this is the street where i lived and worked. back then in august 1991 it was tearing at the seams, economy was in ruin and here super market shelves were empty and people had to lineup for hour on the street just to buy bread, oranges or milk. today it looks very different. there are coffee shops, banks over there, sushi restaurants, shopping centers it is unrecognizable. i am go to find out what people think about the changes which

have taken place on this street and in their country. at the local health spa they are enjoying an ozone bubble massage. 20 years ago russians were struggling to survive. customers here are spending $120. the designer doggie dresses from italy are even pricier. now they plan to open up a branch in london. more and more people can afford to bring their pets here. we showed the economy is on the up. >> but the technological university where i used to teach, they are less upbeat. all of the students say they plan to leave russia. more than a million russians have done just that in the last three years, seeing better

prospects abroad. >> moscow has become such an expensive city. i think if i go abroad and get a job financially i will be better off and life will be more interesting away from russia. >> one man who stayed has been cutting keys in this street for 30 years. but as his rent and electricity bills have increased his income plummeted. what he earns in a week now is barely enough to feed his family. he relies on produce from his vegetable batch to survive. >> when it happened in 1991 i collected food and money and took it to the democrats who were defending the russian parliament. i regret that now. they should not have destroyed the whole soviet system. >> beauty parlors for pets and broken dreams. it is like two different

russias on one street. >> italian doggie dresses, tell me that is not the end of the empire. that brings us to the end of today's broadcast. find constant updates on our website and get in touch with me dpt bbc team at any time or twitter. more of us here at bbc world news america. thank you so much for watching. see you back here tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe vermont and

honolulu. new man's own foundation and union bank. >> union bank put its global financial strength to work for a wagering of companies. what can we do for you? nouncer:

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